Die Morgensonne
by Lecklund
Summary: [AustriaXReaderXGermany] Sequel to Du Riechst So Gut After the horrible events from the night of the masquerade, you find yourself in a luxurious manor owned by the mysterious Roderich Edelstein. 'Ludwig' soon realizes that his prey is alive yet again, and is on the move. But there's something even more unnerving than that, and it just happens to be related to the Austrian man.
1. Chapter 1

_Darkness was what she awoke to. Not utter, complete darkness mind you, as the presence of light in the room was still more than obvious. But it unnerved her as she forced her eyes open, only to stare up at a rather blank ceiling. So empty… and yet she couldn't tear her gaze from the simplicity of it all. Something else came to her attention when she heard a gentle sound coming from through an equally as plain yet elegant doorway. She slowly turned her head in the direction and began to stand, legs somewhat heavy and clumsy, as if they had been stricken with paresthesia but without the tingling sensation. She pressed an ear to the door when she had stumbled over to it, waiting and listening to the sound that continued to sound angelic to her ears. After a moment, she let a hand cautiously rest on the door handle, slowly turning it and opening the door a crack with a small 'click'. Peering out the opening with one eye, her gaze fell upon an empty hallway, much to her disappointment._

_She found herself rushing down the hall, her bare feet keeping her movements quiet and nimble. Approaching a door that seemed to be the source of the music, she ever so slowly opened it a crack, and poked her head around it. Her eyes fell upon the figure of a man of which donned a dark plum-coloured coat and a most peculiar piece of his rich brown hair sprang up from his head. She was completely entranced with watching him play the large piano in front of him until his music playing came to a sudden stop. Her eyes widened, terrified that she had been caught doing something she believed was not suppose to. Her hands gripped the door harder as the figure straightened his posture and turned on the stool._

_She was met with almost ethereal amethyst eyes._

He raised a brow, "What on earth are you doing?"

You jumped at the tone of his voice, trying to spit out words of apology, only to notice the obvious lack of your voice to your ears. Your hand flew to your lips in confusion. You knew you were speaking, but nothing spilled out. He noticed your expression and sighed, "Don't waste your time. That's not what I brought you here for." He stood up and brushed his hands across his coat, dusting off something you couldn't see. Walking over to you, he looked you up and down quickly before continuing, "You look much better now, I must admit. Before, you were almost literally falling apart. At least you'll only scar a bit, unlike many others I've saved."

You raised a brow in curiosity of his words. What in the world was he talking about? He didn't seem to understand your body language, so you shrugged instead, seeming to get your point across better that way. He fiddled with the jabot around his neck, his fingers running over the material while he spoke again, "Ah. You don't understand what I mean. You're not the first, and surely not the last I assure you." He glanced to the side, "You were dead, and I brought you back. After being positively mutilated by Ludwig and his kin, you're lucky I wandered along when I did and caught the creature red-handed… quite literally mind you."

He tried to read your expression, which was a skeptical and unsure one, and he carefully continued, "He is quite a revolting creature, isn't he? No sense of finesse or self-control, just sloppy and… _greedy_. Of course, when I tried to tell him of his error, he just growled at me and left. Typical behavior of his, worthy of a barbarian at the very least. But I believed that you were different from the others he's stolen lives from. That is why you are standing here, and not still a corpse."

He took another step forward, causing you to step back through the doorway out of slight fear, "I like the more interesting things in the world. People who are talented with any of the Fine Arts are ones I am especially fond of. It's kind of ironic when you think about it… because you don't have any kind of talent at all. You like to dabble in this and that, but aren't particularly skilled in anything. You're a Jack-of-All-Trades… except in a woman's shell." He pulled the door open all the way, and you stumbled backwards to stay away from him. He stopped and wore a rather annoyed look on his face, "What are you doing, stumbling around like that? There's no need to fear me. I'm not a monster or anything childish like that."

Your back pressed against the wall to the long hallway, wishing you could just melt into it and get away from this strange, strange man. He groaned out of frustration and raised his voice, "Would you_ please_ just listen when I'm talking to you instead of focus on trying to get away from an enemy that does not exist here?" Mumbling to himself when he had you trapped, he let a gloved hand reach out to touch your jaw line. You flinched, but looked back at him to notice that his gaze was lax and calm, which made you slightly less afraid of him as the finger that ghosted over your jaw remained there, "I feel as if I am trying to tame a wild animal, when you behave the way you do. I only want to make communication a bit easier between us."

He trailed off and let his hand slide down to your neck, running down your trachea tantalizingly slow. You began to sweat, the contact extremely unnerving, as your throat was a rather sensitive part of your body, easily damaged and all. But his actions weren't as hostile as your mind led them to appear. You swallowed, his hand being brushed upon your throat as the muscles contracted as they did usually at the action. He suddenly splayed his hand gently over your throat, his hand warm despite the gloves he wore. He looked up at you with his stoic expression, "A voice is a very unique and powerful tool. It is what we use to communicate with others, and can be trained to weave wondrous and complex things. Opera singers can reach pitches so high, it can break glass. Others can blend their voices in with others, creating a gorgeous harmony. Without it, we would be lost, unable to speak to the rest of the world and unable to speak of the wonders and the horrors you witness."

A warm sensation passed through your skin where his hand was, believing it was merely the heat from it finally soaking in. He abruptly pulled his hand away, adjusting the glove he wore and took a step back from you, "Perhaps that is why I find myself so attracted to them. Perhaps… that is why I want to steal them from others at times."

You raised a brow at his words, wanting to ask him what he meant, but hesitating because of your difficulty with speaking earlier. He raised a brow behind his glasses, "I suppose you're more of a listener than a talker. I don't mind, but you really must speak at least once while you're here."

The look he was giving you was ushering you to do just that. You parted your lips to speak, your voice at first merely a croak, until a whisper slipped out, "N-No. I _do_ talk. I just… It-"

"Felt like you never had a voice or it hadn't been used in a long time, correct?"

You nodded in reply, "Yes."

The corners of his lips twitched as if he were going to smile, but they remained in a frown, "It'll come back to you eventually." He offered his hand, "For now, I should show you around my manor. After all, you're going to be here for a while to recover."

You hesitated, but took his gloved hand. Did you really have a choice in the matter?


	2. Chapter 2

When the man had mentioned 'his manor', he was quite literal. It appeared to be exceptionally well-kept, its white-washed walls, though somewhat reminiscent of an institution, as spotless as the lovely wooden floor was. His lips tugged into a smile when he saw your face flood with wonder at it all. You quickly turned to him with a raised brow, "And… where did you say you were from?"

"Austria. But that doesn't mean that's where we are right now, of course."

Nodding at his answer, you were about to inquire more about the manor before a loud knocking came from what you assumed to be the front foyer of the place. The posh-looking man that was with you cocked a brow at the sound as he made his way in the general direction of the sound, "I wasn't expecting company today."

You didn't know whether to follow or stay where you were, but ultimately decided it best to trail a bit behind him, out of immediate sight of whoever was there but still in range to see who it may be. A loud voice echoed through the wide-open area as he opened the door, "AHA! I knew I'd find you here, you silly aristocrat, you!"

"Ugh. What on earth are you doing here, Gilbert? I thought you were… gone."

You peeked around the corner slightly to catch a glance at the albino man that pushed his way past the darker-haired man. His voice was loud and rather obnoxious in comparison, "Ah, you can't get rid of awesomeness _that_ easily, Roderich! Don't bother to take in as much as you can right now, I plan on sticking around a lot more." He poked the Austrian man's cheek, "That means you can expect to see me quite frequently."

Ignoring the albino's huge grin, 'Roderich' scoffed and pushed his hand away, "I am so ecstatic to hear that, you fool. But seriously, what are you doing in my house?"

"Simple, really. Perhaps too much so for that brain of yours." He turned back to him and smirked, "Now that I'm free to do as I please again, instead of being held up by my brother, I decided the first thing I should do to celebrate this newfound freedom was come to annoy the hell out of you." He let out an obnoxious little laugh before continuing, "I think I deserve if after being stuck in that body for so damn long."

Roderich snapped back, "Watch what you say," He lowered his voice, "There's someone here that doesn't need to hear of such things."

Gilbert quickly spun on his heel to face you, not being fast enough to hide behind the corner again, "So I noticed! Did you get yourself a pet, aristocrat?" He practically skipped over to where you hid around the corner and poked his head around, "Why hello there, girlie!"

He laughed at you as you jumped at the sound of his voice. You quickly stepped back out into view of both Roderich and Gilbert as you stammered a reply, "I-Uh… I-um… Hello?"

Roderich put a hand to his temple and sighed, "Gilbert, I think it's about time you left."

The albino man pouted like a child, "But I haven't terrorized you nearly enough to leave yet! You should let me stay for tea or… whatever you stupid aristocrat people do for fun. We have _plenty_ to discuss, I think."

"Nothing worth my time, I imagine."

Gilbert's smirk grew, "Ah, but what if I mentioned the fact that my brother is a bit more than just pissed off as of late?"

The Austrian's eyes narrowed behind his glasses, "That sounds more like a private matter to discuss-"

"But surely this little flower you've picked up should know the truth about what happened to her, wouldn't you think?"

"That's a gradual process, though you've never known anything of restraint or 'gradual'."

You watched the two men bicker back and forth on a topic that was rather blurry in your mind. None of it made any sense in your mind, even though Roderich was much more forward about it all earlier. You hardly called that gradual, and decided to mention that, "Gradual? I hardly think that's a fair thing for you to say, considering you hit me earlier by saying that I was dead and brought back after being mauled by some 'Ludwig' character just after I woke up again."

Gilbert snickered at the Austrian's flustered expression, "I think I like this one!" He turned to you with a slight change of subject, "This 'Ludwig' character is my brother, just so you know. Not the most awesome guy, I know. But trust me, darling, I'm _much_ more fun to be around than he is. I mean… unless you like being around a hard-ass like that."

You raised a brow at his statement, his tone of voice making it sound more suggestive than necessary, "I think I'd prefer to be around neither, actually."

Roderich sighed in defeat, knowing he'd never rid of Gilbert otherwise, "Fine, you can stay for some tea. But then I want you gone. She'll need her rest, and your annoying personality won't help any."

Gilbert glanced over at both him and yourself with a rather smug expression. His pride was one-sided, as the only thing he received in return were bothered glares.


End file.
